Winnie the Pooh (Blu-ray)

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All Rise...

Judge Erich Asperschlager is a reviewer of very little brain.

The Charge

"Excuse me Owl, but what does 'Crustimoney Proseedcake' mean?"

Opening Statement

There were two animated sequels released by Disney during the summer of 2011.
One was a flashy CGI follow-up to a movie that spawned one of the most lucrative
kids' franchises in recent memory. The other, a 63-minute hand-drawn sequel to a
movie more than 40 years old, based on a series of books even older than that.
That first film, Cars 2, squandered a
full-on marketing blitz, falling short of its predecessor critically and
commercially. The second, Winnie the Pooh, hit screens with little to no
fanfare, lost in a sea of blockbuster popcorn flicks and forgettable kids'
fare—and blew them all away.

It doesn't matter that Winnie the Pooh won more hearts than box
office dollars. It's one of the best movies of the summer, and one of the best
animated films to come out of Disney in more than a decade. If you missed it at
the multiplex, now you can watch and re-watch it with your family at home, and
in gorgeous high definition, with the release of Winnie the Pooh
(Blu-ray).

Facts of the Case

Set in the Hundred Acre Wood of A. A. Milne's classic children's books,
Winnie the Pooh follows the title character's very exciting day, in which
he searches for honey, a contest is held to find Eeyore a new tail, and everyone
bands together to save Christopher Robin from a creature called the
"Backson."

The Evidence

When it comes to the books and movies we share with our children, nostalgia
is king. Even though most cherished childhood memories don't hold up under the
harsh light of adulthood, some fuzzy feelings only get warmer with age. For many
people, that short list includes A. A. Milne's books about a young boy and his
stuffed animal friends. Written for the author's son, Christopher, his stories
capture the imaginative spirit and endless possibilities of youth.

Parents have plenty of options when it comes to sharing Pooh bear with their
kids. My own daughter has a stuffed animal, beanbag chair, books, and a DVD of
the 1977 Disney classic The Many
Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. They are all played with, read, and watched
in an endless cycle I couldn't be happier about. I'm even happier to add Pooh's
latest movie adventure to that list.

The wasteland of kids' entertainment is littered with subpar remakes having
more to do with brand recognition and marketing opportunities than genuine
affection. In their finite wisdom, studio execs try to modernize beloved (or
simply "remembered") franchises with bad CGI, pop culture references,
and the song "What I Like About You." Winnie the Pooh breaks
the cycle, giving parents a movie to show their kids that doesn't feel like a
compromise.

This film isn't so much a reimagining of Milne's characters than it is a
reintroduction. The character models look slightly different than they did in
1977, and the voice actors have been replaced by a talented new cast that
includes Jim Cummings (the voice of Winnie the Pooh since the late '80s), Tom
"SpongeBob" Kenny (Piglet), Craig Ferguson (Owl), and newcomers
Kristen Anderson-Lopez (Kanga) and Jack Boulter (Christopher Robin). Even with
the changes, this new movie feels like it could have been made shortly after the
original. Winnie the Pooh shares more with The Many Adventures of
Winnie the Pooh than just a visual style, though. They share Milne's spirit,
and the love of reading that his stories inspire.

Plenty of books have been made into movies, but Winnie the Pooh is
one of the few adaptations to incorporate the book itself. From time to time,
Pooh and his friends wander off the drawing and onto the page, breaking a kind
of third-and-a-half wall between the animation and the open book. Characters
walk on, and even get buried in, the words on the page. In one scene, Pooh and
the narrator—played by the great John Cleese—have a conversation
about paragraphs and whether or not they contain honey. In another, the
characters get out of a jam by using oversized words that have spilled into the
drawing. This playful back and forth between reading and viewing is a welcome
break from all the movies that seem determined to make kids turn off their
brains.

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh was an anthology of Pooh
stories, based on the books, that had each been released as standalone short
films prior to being gathered into a feature. Winnie the Pooh is also
broken into three main plot threads, but those threads weave together to create
a satisfying whole. The simple plot allows the screenwriters to create a
"best-of" mashup of characters and moments from the books and original
movie.

Winnie the Pooh isn't just about looking to the past, though. The
first film stayed close to Milne's books, while this new film uses those stories
as a jumping off point. The mysterious "Backson" in the latter half of
the film, for example, references a story in the second Pooh book. In both
cases, Christopher Robin's note that he will be "back soon" is
misinterpreted by Owl. In the book, the misunderstanding is cleared up right
away. In the movie, it gives rise to full-on panic, as everyone worries that
Christopher has been kidnapped by a fearsome creature responsible for sock
holes, scribbled-in books, and broken dishes.

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh is more sweet than funny.
Winnie the Pooh is both. Drawing inspiration from vaudeville and early
cartoon shorts, this new film trades pop culture references for actual jokes
that range from sight gags and pratfalls to clever wordplay. One memorable bit
plays like an animated version of "Who's On First?," as the characters
get into an argument based on the confusion between "knot" and
"not." Most kids' movies go for laughs the way a dog goes for a
dropped T-bone. Winnie the Pooh doesn't have to try hard to be
clever—it just is.

Winnie the Pooh might not be the Blu-ray you use to show off your
home theater rig, but the 1080p transfer is the perfect way to enjoy the subtle
beauty of hand-drawn animation. The fine detail is most obvious in live action
footage of Christopher Robin's room at the beginning and end of the movie, but
the clarity shines throughout. The background paintings are as stunning as any
Disney art book, and the characters, though clean and simple, show the artist's
hand in a way you won't see in computer animation.

The 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio mix is more interested in creating an immersive
soundscape than rattling walls. Instead of strong directional effects, the track
uses the speakers to give dialogue, music, and Henry Jackman's score plenty of
room to spread out. Like the hi-def presentation, the effect is subtle, but
impressive. The surround mix has the most power during the musical numbers,
written in the style of early Disney films. My personal favorite is "The
Backson Song," a spooky cautionary tale set against chalkboard animation.
There are also several songs performed by Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward, a.k.a.
She & Him, including a version of the "Winnie the Pooh" theme song
updated to include Tigger.

Winnie the Pooh's Blu-ray adventure comes with a solid collection of
HD bonus features to extend your visit with Pooh and his pals:

• "Winnie the Pooh and His Story Too" (8:33): Narrated
by John Cleese, this nifty making-of featurette covers the history of the books
and film series, with input from Winnie the Pooh's producers, artists,
and director Stephen Anderson.

• Deleted Scenes (15:06): Four scenes, with introductions by the
directors: an extended version of the "The Tummy Song"; an excised
sequence introducing Rabbit's "friends and relations"; a different
version of Eeyore's first scene; a longer Tigger intro; and a funny bit in which
Pooh searches his home for a replacement tail for Eeyore.

• "The Ballad of Nessie" (5:32): When Winnie the
Pooh played in theaters, this lovely Scottish fable preceded it. Although
you don't have to watch the short film and movie together at home, I recommend
that you do.

• Mini Adventures of Winnie the Pooh: "Pooh's Balloon"
(2:47): If you've seen The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, you've
seen this sequence—in which a muddied Pooh tries to steal honey while
pretending to be a little black rain cloud. The origin of the short is unclear;
a title card says that it is "based on" The Many Adventures of
Winnie the Pooh, and that Cummings and Butler provide the voices of Pooh and
Christopher Robin. As far as I can tell, however, the animation is the same as
the original film—with a few edits—except much cleaner and brighter.
No announcement has been made, but I've got all my fingers and toes crossed that
this means we'll be getting a Blu-ray version of the 1977 film. If so, this odd
extra suggests it could be a real stunner.

• "Sing Along With the Movie": This subtitle option
lets you watch the movie with onscreen lyrics—complete with bouncing
balloon—during all the musical numbers.

• "Disney Song Selection": Provides the same songs and
lyrics as the sing along, without having to sit through the whole movie.

• "Creating the Perfect Winnie the Pooh Nursery"
(2:52): Featuring Ellie and Melissa, The Baby Planners®, this forgettable
extra provides a few quick tips for incorporating Winnie the Pooh into the
design of your new nursery. There's a reason it's last on the bonus features
list.

The two-disc Winnie the Pooh combo pack also comes with a DVD version
of the film with all of the extras except the making-of featurette and the
sing-along, and a small fold-out poster that you can use to play "Pin the
Tail on Eeyore."

Closing Statement

Those who value quantity over quality might have a hard time with Winnie
the Pooh's 63-minute run time—less than an hour if you don't watch the
credits (and you really should watch all of the credits). Those people are
missing out. Pooh's latest adventure manages to pack more humor, sweetness, and
charm into one hour than most kids movies have in two. Winnie the Pooh
shows that children's entertainment doesn't need to be dumbed down, and that
classic movies, like classic books, are worth of being passed down from one
generation to the next.